Stackable bottle

ABSTRACT

A bottle or container for liquids is vertically stackable with geometrically similar containers. Each bottle or container has a unitary body that is circular in plan cross-section and that has a contoured bottom portion adapted to receive, in bearing arrangement, the shoulder and neck portions of a geometrically similar bottle or container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is that of bottles or containers and particularly bottles or containers which may be made of polycarbonate or other plastic substances and which may be stacked one upon another.

Bottles have been used for thousands of years to contain, transport, and dispense fluids, including water. The terms bottle is used herein to mean containers for holding fluids. Although plastic bottles have been used for many years to package different types of fluids, until the 1980's large containers for water were typically glass bottles having a round or circular cross-section. Such glass bottles were relatively fragile and heavy, and were also susceptible to fracture into dangerous sharp fragments when mishandled. The round or circular shape of such bottles required the use of a packaging case or an equivalent thereto for each bottle in order to stack the bottles for storage or shipment. Moreover, such round or circular cross-section glass bottles could not be effectively stacked vertically top to bottom because the relatively small mouth could not accommodate a relatively large bottom. Such bottles, when stacked, were easily tipped over and broken.

Since the 1980's, bottles used to contain, transport, and dispense liquids have been made from polycarbonate and other plastics. Such bottles are inexpensive, light, and safe in that they do not break into dangerous shards when dropped. Similar to glass bottles, polycarbonate bottles and other plastic bottles do not contaminate or taint liquids that they contain. In the main, plastic bottles have also been round or circular in cross-section because that shape presents the fewest number of stress points at which leaks might occur. U.S. Pat. Des. 326,608 to Frahm discloses such a round bottle. For practical reasons, plastic bottles have been relatively thin-walled with corrugations or ribs formed therein or thereon to provide strength and rigidity. Again, such round or circular cross-section plastic bottles could not be effectively stacked end-to-end on top of each other because of the propensity to tip when stacked.

Glass water bottles as well as plastic bottles have been designed with a rectangular cross-section and with parallel, relatively flat sides intended to mate with one another. U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,374 to Der Yuen discloses a one-piece, stackable container having a substantially square cross-section plan configuration.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,955 to Schieser, et al. discloses an example of a plastic, rectangular-cross-section, parallel-sided plastic or polycarbonate bottle intended to transport and store water. This bottle has horizontal reinforcing ribs and grooves formed in its sides. Additionally, it has a tenon projecting from one of the parallel sides and a mortise formed in the mating parallel side. When such bottles are stacked on their sides one above the other, the tenon of one bottle can be inserted into the mortise of an immediately adjacent bottle so that the bottles interlock and form a stack.

The interfitting stackable bottles of Schieser, et al. have exhibited certain shortcomings. The horizontal pattern of the ribs and grooves, which extend toward the bottom of the bottle, and the raised rib that surrounds the mortise in the female face of the bottle have been found to present stress points where cracks occur during use with resulting breakage. Also, the bottles of Schieser, et al. and of Der Yuen cannot be rolled on their sides to move them without lifting or sliding.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,199 to Frahm discloses an improved lightweight, liquid-containing stackable bottle made of plastic such as polycarbonate. This bottle has a rectangular cross-section and parallel, oppositely-disposed mating sides. Complementary projections and receptacles are formed in the mating sides of the bottle to permit interlocking of the bottles when they are stacked on their mating sidewalls.

Other stackable bottles and containers include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,793 to Brandt, et al., which discloses a sidewall comprising four generally rectangular panels smoothly joined to adjacent rectangular panels to form a belt-like sidewall which extends completely around the container; U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,101 to Richter, et al, which discloses a five-gallon nestable plastic syrup container having a substantially rectangular cross-section; and U.S. Pat. Des. 407,020 to Doty discloses stackable polymeric container for liquids having a rectangular cross-section.

Bottles having rectangular cross-sections cannot be easily rolled on their sides, a significant consideration when five-gallon bottles, when filled with water, weigh in excess of thirty-five pounds. Stackable and nestable bottles and containers having substantially rectangular cross-sections are not readily usable with water dispensing stands and cabinets that accept round bottles. Apparently, the prior art does not disclose round or circular water containers that are stackable or nestable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A substantial number of water dispensers accept five-gallon water bottles. Conventional five-gallon water bottles typically are unitary containers that have flat bottoms so that the bottles can be placed upright on a flat surface, a side wall comprising a round or circular plan cross-section so that the bottles can be rolled on a flat surface; a rounded or circular, contoured and tapered neck portion extending upward from the round side wall; and a relatively small mouth, projecting upward from and disposed centrally on the neck portion. Such bottles cannot be conveniently stacked vertically end-to-end because the relatively wide bottom is not stable when placed on top of the relatively small mouth.

The upward-projecting mouth of a conventional bottle cannot conveniently be eliminated because it is useful for insertion into a reservoir of a dispenser when the bottle is inverted and placed thereon. The rounded neck-portion cannot conveniently be changed in cross-sectional plan shape or in contour because most water dispensers have rounded openings for receiving the neck portion in a close-fitting, bearing arrangement whereby the dispenser acts as a shoulder that the neck portion bears against.

The present invention comprises a stackable bottle for use in dispensing fluids, such as water and the like. The bottle according to the present invention is adapted for use with a conventional water dispenser by inverting the bottle, inserting the mouth thereof into a reservoir of the dispenser, and resting the neck portion thereof onto a mating opening in the top of the dispenser, all so that water or other fluids can be fed by gravity into the reservoir. The bottom portion of the bottle is contoured to receive the mouth portion of an adjacent bottle so that two or more bottles can be stacked vertically bottom-on-mouth with a reduced propensity to tip over as compared to conventional, similarly stacked bottles.

In a preferred embodiment of a bottle according to the present invention, the dimensions are selected so that the diameter and the capacity of the bottle are substantially the same as that of conventional five-gallon water bottles. The height of the bottle is thereby increased as a consequence of the contouring of the bottom portion of the bottle.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stackable or nestable bottle, having a round or circular plan cross-section, for containing and transporting liquids, and for dispensing liquids by means of gravity flow into dispensing cabinets or containers. It is another object of the present invention to provide a bottle having a round or circular plan cross-section that can be stacked vertically bottom-to-top with geometrically similar bottles and that minimizes tipping of such stacked bottles. These and other objects and advantages and features of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Reference will now be made to the drawing figures, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein

FIG. 1 is a side view of three bottles, in accordance the invention, showing the bottles stacked one on top of another.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a bottle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a bottle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning to the drawing figures, FIG. 1 shows a side view of three bottles in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention stacked three high on a flat surface. The structure provided for each bottle 1 of the present invention includes a central body portion 2, a top end portion 4 comprising a shoulder portion 6 and an upwardly-projecting neck portion 8, and a bottom end portion 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, central body portion 2 is preferably circular in cross-section, that is, in plan configuration, and may have ribs 12, either longitudinal or transverse, molded therein or thereon for strength and rigidity. Top end portion 4 and bottom end portion 10 are contoured and are preferably made to correspond, that is, are made to seat one against the other when containers are stacked end to end, as shown in FIG. 1. The seating configuration can include a mating of a portion of bottom end portion 10 with a portion of top end portion 4 or can alternatively be a substantially complete mating of the contoured top end portion 4 with the contoured bottom end portion 10.

In the preferred form of the invention, as for example where the bottle is made for handling water to be dispensed by inverting the bottle and placing projected neck portion 8 of shoulder portion 6 into a conventional gravity-fed dispenser (not shown), it is preferred that the neck portion be provided with a relatively small-diameter, centrally-disposed, projecting mouth 14. Projecting neck portion 8 can be substantially cylindrical or can be tapered.

When stacked one on top of another, the recessed, contoured bottom end portion of one bottle fits over the mouth and neck portion and onto the shoulder portion of another bottle. The contoured bottom and the contoured shoulder mate, thereby providing a physical bearing surface that, due to the weight and shape of stacked bottles, allows the stacked bottles to resist tipping.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and as defined in the following claims. For example, the neck portion can contain exterior or interior threads that can screw into mating threads in a mouth cap. The shoulder surface can be roughened and the mating bottom surface can be roughened to help prevent slippage when bottles are stacked. The contoured shoulder can contain a lip at or near its outer periphery. 

1. A container which is vertically stackable with geometrically similar containers, each container comprising a unitary body having a bottom surface, a circular sidewall, and a top surface including a shoulder portion, a neck portion projecting upwardly from and centrally disposed on the shoulder portion and having a mouth on the top of the neck portion, the bottom surface being contoured to receive therein the neck and shoulder portions of a geometrically similar container when one container is stacked on another container in a vertical bottom-to-top arrangement.
 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the neck portion has a contoured shape that substantially mates with the contoured bottom surface.
 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises polycarbonate or plastic.
 4. The container according to claim 2, wherein the container comprises polycarbonate of plastic. 